


The Tip Game

by princessgongjunim (MyOwnCharacterInEverything)



Series: The Pining Idiots of Angel Café [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 08:05:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15859602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOwnCharacterInEverything/pseuds/princessgongjunim
Summary: "It was serious business, Jungwoo and Ten (again, mostly Ten) insisted. So much so that there was a tally board in the breakroom...at this point, it was always a tight race between Jungwoo’s natural aegyo, Ten’s half-buttoned shirts, and Winwin’sfucking existence. Meanwhile, Mark’s column on the board remained (almost pathetically) empty."Alternatively, the college/coffee shop AU that features a contest to see who can get the most tip money by the end of the day. And sure, Mark is sad because he never wins, but what does Lucas have to do with anything?





	The Tip Game

“Have a nice day, Mrs. Jeon!” Jungwoo winked.

Never mind the fact that Mrs. Jeon was old enough to be Jungwoo’s grandmother. She was still charmed and even _giggled_ as she left the small coffee shop. And as Jungwoo gave a smug little laugh as he slipped the tip money in his designated jar, Mark cursed under his breath, wishing that he didn’t feel a familial obligation to work in this hellhole.

Okay, it wasn’t _actually_ a hellhole. In fact, Angel Café was, as the name would suggest, a lovely little slice of heaven, worthy of Pinterest and Tumblr and Instagram. It was the lovechild of Mark’s cousin Taeyong and his longtime sweetheart Johnny, who were probably the softest, most nurturing and embarrassingly supportive non-parents to ever exist. So it came as no surprise that the place was littered with fairy lights and comfy couches and chairs. There were even bean bags next to a (fake) fireplace, and above that hung a TV that played fun music. The organic baked goods were surprisingly delicious, they were reasonably priced for a fair trade coffee place, and on Fridays, they hosted local musicians. Art from local artists hung on the walls for sale, and there was even a section of the shop dedicated to hosting adoptable animals from the local shelters. It was the cutest place ever, and the considerable amount of followers on social media would probably fight you if you said otherwise.

But, as with everything good, there was a catch. And that catch was The Tip Game.

It started as a contest between Ten and Jungwoo, when one of them (probably Ten) accused the other of flirting with customers for tips. To which the other declared that there would be a contest to see who could get the most tips by the end of the day. Except by the end of that first day, when they each counted their tips, they accused the other one of cheating and counting their money wrong. It got so bad, in fact, that Johnny’s six-foot monstrous ass descended from his and Taeyong’s upstairs apartment, grabbed Ten and Jungwoo by the shirt collars, and threw them into the alleyway like a pair of disobedient puppies. Taeyong banned them for the weekend, giving them his patented “disappointed parent” look every time they gave him sad eyes and whined about how terrible being outside was.

Eventually, their manager Kun, who was a law student, swooped in and laid out a few ground rules. (Seriously, he drew up a contract and made everyone sign it and everything.) According to these new rules, it was only fair to include the other daytime baristas in the contest as well, in order to keep too much tip money from going to only one person. Additionally, the money was counted at the end of every day by a designated neutral third-party (who also had to sign the contract, swearing to _remain_ a neutral third-party).

Ten and Jungwoo were, quite honestly, a little dismissive of these rules at first. That is, until the end of _that_ day, when the winner turned out to be neither of them. That day, the winner was, of all people, Sicheng. _Sicheng_ , who never talked, instead wordlessly handing people their drinks with a shy little half-smile. Jungwoo and Ten (mostly Ten) were _flabbergasted_. But it only convinced them to turn their own charms up a few notches. It was serious business, Jungwoo and Ten (again, mostly Ten) insisted. So much so that there was a tally board in the breakroom. Currently, Sicheng had the most tally marks in his column, and it eventually got to a point where everyone stopped calling him Sicheng and started calling him Winwin instead. So at this point, it was always a tight race between Jungwoo’s natural aegyo, Ten’s half-buttoned shirts, and Winwin’s _fucking existence_. Meanwhile, Mark’s column on the board remained (almost pathetically) empty.

The little bell above the coffee shop door rang again, giving Mark only a few precious seconds to compose himself before the next customer saw him. In his flustered panic, he accidentally flung his Sharpie off the counter as he fumbled for his bottle of water. He just _barely_ managed to school his expression into a poker face when _he_ walked in.

“Lucas!” Jungwoo called out. And Mark quickly ducked behind the counter like the coward he was, deciding to look for his wayward Sharpie and hopefully _calm the fuck down_.

See, the first time Mark saw Lucas, Mark swore that his heart stopped as Lucas took his caramel frappuccino with two extra shots of caramel and whip. Mark had been all too ready to silently judge whoever ordered the sugary mess, only to see a handsome man give him the biggest, happiest grin that he had ever seen in his life. The room suddenly had brightened, angels had been singing in his head, and Mark began cursing his weak heart. Lucas was drop dead gorgeous, and it didn’t help that Mark had _always_ had a thing for tall buff men. (If his stupidly large crush on Kang Daniel in high school was anything to go by…)

But it wasn’t just looks. As Mark watched Lucas greet the other café workers everyday, Mark found that he liked a bunch of little things about Lucas. The lilt of his voice when he chatted with Winwin and Kun in Mandarin. The light in his eyes when he danced to the newest K-pop girl group songs with Ten and Taeyong. The way he laughed with his whole body at Jungwoo’s stories and Johnny’s jokes.

But the icing on the cake was, and maybe it was an incredibly _dumb_ reason, but Lucas always, _always_ left money in Mark’s jar. And _only_ Mark’s jar. Now, it’s not like people _didn’t_ tip Mark at all, but there was always a clear difference in the amount of money in Mark’s jar compared to everyone else’s. Mark wasn’t delusional: Lucas probably only did it out of pity or something. But it went a long way towards making Mark feel a little less like crap. That’s why, despite the racing of his heart and the short-circuiting in his brain, Mark considered Lucas’s money in his tip jar to be the highlight of his day. Which should be ridiculous, because Mark had yet to actually _talk_ to Lucas. Years of hiding crushes in high school trained Mark a little too well, because Mark was all too content to just stay behind the espresso machine and just _watch_.

Back in the present, Lucas yelled an enthusiastic greeting back to Jungwoo, and Mark was thankful that he had ducked down to pick up the Sharpie. If he’d been standing, Mark was sure that his knees would have given out at the sight of Lucas in a black sleeveless shirt and tight jeans. Taking a deep breath, Mark stood up and grabbed his nearly empty water bottle. After draining its contents in one gulp, Mark stared at it intently as he began picking at the label of his water bottle. Or rather, he was concentrating on trying _not_ to stare at Lucas. Because, those arms? Out for the whole world to see? _Christ_ , it’s like the universe _wanted_ Mark to suffer. Because arms like those made Mark wonder things. Like how they’d feel around him. Would Lucas be gentle? Or would he be pulling hard like an excited puppy? _Wait._ With those arms, would Lucas be able to lift up Mark and—?

—the whole water bottle label peeled off in one piece when Mark gave a particularly hard tug, and the sudden give snapped Mark back into the present. He sighed, deciding to head to the recycling bin in the back. And maybe, while he was back there, he could also take a bathroom break.

No, no, he wasn’t hiding, _shut up, inner voice that sounded weirdly like Ten._

* * *

After what felt like a century, Mark’s shift finally ended in time for his one o’ clock class. It was one of the more peaceful parts of Mark’s Thursdays. Johnny would drive him to school, hand him the lunch that Taeyong always packed for him, and sneak him a cookie from the fresh afternoon batch. Mark would then go to his class early, sit down in his usual seat, and begin eating lunch while he waited for class to start. And it was nice, to have a chance to slip his earbuds in and just breathe. But when one is left alone with their thoughts…

These days, Mark was honestly a little frustrated with himself. Lucas had first come to the coffee shop about a week before school started, and that entire week, Mark was counting down the days until the start of class. Because here was his logic: when school finally started again, Mark would be working less hours at the coffee shop, which meant less opportunities to embarrass himself in front of said cute customer. But _no_ . The universe _wanted_ him to suffer, he thought bitterly as he crankily crammed the last of his lunch in his mouth. But seriously, it’s been like, a month, Mark. Just suck it up and talk to Lucas already!

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear, as the saying goes. So Mark nearly choked when Lucas waltzed into the classroom, which Mark suddenly noticed was a lot less crowded than he swore it was a minute ago. Stupid Mark, not paying attention to the time. Stupid Lucas and that _stupidly large grin someone needed to kiss it off_ —

Completely oblivious to Mark’s suffering, Lucas sauntered over to two underclassmen. Renjun and Chenle, Mark knew. (Kun had more or less adopted all of the Chinese underclassmen, so they came by the café every now and then. Winwin certainly didn’t protest.) But back to Mark’s suffering: as he picked up all his garbage and went to go throw it out, he began to stew in his annoyance. What were the odds, Mark huffed to himself, that he would walk in on the first day of class and settle into his seat, only to look up and see the source of his emotional problems walking into his class? And why, Mark wondered as he sunk back into his seat, did Lucas have to sit himself in front of Mark? Not only did Mark have to deal with staring at Lucas, but he also couldn’t see the board half the time because Lucas was _that freakishly tall_. But really, this was his own fault. If he hadn’t kept putting off gen eds and had already taken them like a normal person, he wouldn’t be here having this problem right now.

Mark yanked his earbuds out of his ears and shoved them back into his bag. There was no point in wearing them now, not when Lucas’s laugh was so loud that you could hear it through your headphones. So instead, Mark slumped back in his chair, tilting his head up towards the ceiling and closing his eyes. He was hoping for a few seconds of _goddamn peace and quiet_ —

Someone flopped down into the seat next to him, and Mark groaned, letting his forehead hit the table.

“Aw, honey,” Julie cooed like the embarrassing _noona_ she was. “What’s the matter?”

Mark picked his head up off the desk. “Why are you here already? Don’t you come from all the way across campus?”

“Nope,” she said, popping the “p” in her classic, obnoxious Julie fashion. “Not today, anyway. My twelve o'clock got cancelled, so I had time to actually enjoy lunch for once. But then I got bored, so I decided to come here early and talk to my favorite future cousin-in-law.”

Mark rolled his eyes. “You could have just started doing homework like a normal person…”

“And when, MarkieMark, have you ever known me to be normal?”

“Don’t call me that, _Soojin_.”

“Whatever you say, _Minhyung_.”

Now, to a stranger, it would look like Mark and Julie were friends. Or maybe even dating. But no. The truth was actually far worse. See, years ago, after a ridiculous amount of mutual pining, Taeyong had finally started dating Johnny, and everyone in the Lee family breathed a sigh of relief. Johnny was finally seated at their weekend extended family dinners as Taeyong’s boyfriend, a position that, quite frankly, had been Johnny’s for the taking since forever.

Now, Johnny was a cool guy, and Mark loved the crap out of his older brother-figure. But Johnny came with trouble. His family had been hosting two overseas students, and those two students have since come to be considered honorary members of the Seo family. Which was cute and all, but since Taeyong and Johnny were married in every way except legally, Mark saw those two students a lot. Which would have been fine, if they weren’t _the most annoying not-siblings on the planet._ One of them was Ten. Three guesses who the other one was.

So no, Julie wasn’t his friend. She was family. And Mark honestly didn’t know which one would have been worse.

But as annoying as Julie was, Mark also knew that she was probably the only one who wouldn’t loudly clown him for what he was about to say. Unlike Ten, or his cousins Haechan and Jeno, or _literally anyone else because there were too many savage people in Mark’s life_. At least Julie was nice enough to only tease him in English whenever they were in a public setting. Less chances for eavesdroppers to understand most of what was going on.

And so, Mark sighed and answered Julie’s first question. “Nothing’s wrong, really,” he said, irritably booting up his laptop. “It’s just the same stupid thing as every other day.”

“Ah,” Julie said. “Ten and his damn tip jars. For the record, I still think this contest is a stupid idea.”

“And it is!” Mark said vehemently. “Like, we all know that Winwin will get the most money. Can’t they just accept that and move on with their lives?”

Julie hummed sympathetically. “You know I’d help you, honey, but you know. Kun and his damn contract.”

Mark snorted. “Kun would kill you if he heard you say that.” And literally anyone else would become at least a little bit nervous at the thought of an angry Kun. Not Julie, though. She just rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, well” she shrugged. “He can just add it to the list of other things he already wants to kill me for.”

And that right there was the reason why Julie had been chosen as the neutral third-party that counted the tip jars at the end of every day. She wasn’t scared of anything or anyone: not Kun’s wrath, not Johnny’s strength, not even the crazy _sasaeng_ fansite that she’d tackled once because she just happened to be there. The scarring nail marks left across half of her face were a testament to that sheer lack of fear, especially since she made no effort to cover them up or even act ashamed of them. Point being: it was basically impossible to bribe her. Which made her exactly the kind of neutral third-party that this damned Tip Game needed. And Mark, despite everything, was honestly grateful that she was in the loop. Even though she couldn't really help him, it was still nice to have someone to safely rant to.

“It’s just…” Mark sighed. “I _know_ this whole Tip Game is pointless. But like, it would be nice, if… You know…”

Julie smiled and ruffled Mark’s hair, which Mark knew was Julie’s awkward way of comforting him.

“No, I get what you mean. A matter of pride and all that. But Mark…” Julie’s voice dropped to her serious tone. “What’s _really_ bothering you?”

Mark took a deep breath. “I just… I’m not stunning like Winwin or smooth like Jungwoo. And I’m definitely not…whatever Ten is. So is it unrealistic of me to dream of getting the most tip money for once? I feel like I’m being delusional…”

“Oh, Markie, _no_.” Julie put her hands on his shoulders, her way of demanding his full attention. “You, baby cousin, are the cutest little button to ever grace this planet. Those stupid tip jars only exist because Ten is a needy little brat that craves attention—”

“I know what you’re trying to do, _noona_ , and I appreciate it. But honestly? I think it’s just better if we drop it.”

Julie was quiet for a bit, but before she could truly protest, their TA Taeil began going over last night’s homework. So Julie sighed in resignation, dropped her arms from his shoulders, and turned to face the front of the classroom.

“Alright, fine. I’ll drop it, for now. But seriously, Mark. We love you, okay?”

“I know,” Mark replied sincerely. And he turned to his laptop to begin taking notes from the PowerPoint. If he couldn’t win at the Tip Game, he could at least win at school.

* * *

Every Friday, everyone at the café gathered in one of the larger tables in the back and ate dinner together. (Except Yuta, Jaemin, and Jisung, who worked the night shifts, though Taeyong did make sure that they had food as well.) Johnny insisted “family dinner” was a team building activity, but they all knew the truth. Unlike Taeyong, who was a stress cleaner, Johnny was a stress cooker, so there was always way more food than he and Taeyong could manage. And besides, why would Johnny ever miss a chance to sit them down and ask them about their day? Although, such conversations usually spiraled into a chaotic mess…

“Okay, but Julie- _yah_ ,” Ten said. “Did you see Jungkook on his livestage today?”

Julie scowled intensely at her food, refusing to meet Ten’s wiggling eyebrows. “What did he do this time?” she sighed, sounding a little too bored to be believable.

“Well, all of BTS looks _amazing_ this comeback,” Jungwoo said. “God, he looks _good_ in that business suit.”

Kun rolled his eyes. “You and your damn obsession with men in suits—”

Ten laughed. “Honestly, Jungwoo- _yah_ , between Doyoungie and Jaehyun- _ah_ , you definitely have a type.”

“In his defense,” Julie said, “men in business suits _are_ nice to look at, and Doyoung- _oppa_ and Jaehyun- _oppa_ are no exception.”

Jungwoo beamed. “I knew I could count on my same-age friend!” he exclaimed, grabbing Julie and hugging her protesting body to his chest.

“Get off of me,” Julie grumbled, shoving Jungwoo away.

Jungwoo pouted at Julie. “You know what? I’m telling Jungkook- _ssi_ that you find Doyoung- _hyung_ and Jaehyun- _hyung_ attractive.”

“Good!” Julie threw her hands up in the air. “Go ahead! I don’t care! Because Jungkook- _ssi_ doesn’t even know who I am, whereas Doyoung- _oppa_ and Jaehyun- _oppa_ are _literally your boyfriends and they’re gonna punish you—_ ”

“Okay, LISTEN—”

“Kids, stop it, please,” Taeyong interrupted.

“But Taeyongie- _hyung_ ,” Ten whined. “I just wanted to ask Julie- _yah_ about her boyfriend—”

“For the _last time!_ ” Julie snapped. “He’s _not my boyfriend_. God, I tackle _one fansite_ and suddenly—”

“You were there by coincidence, that's practically fate!”

“ _And I literally haven’t talked to him since then._ In fact, he probably doesn’t even remember me…”

Mark was confused. “He didn't even, like, thank you or anything?”

“I mean, not really. I was busy getting wheeled to the emergency room since…you know…my face was bleeding?”

Jungwoo frowned. “You would think that they would have said something by now?”

Julie shook her head. “Their PR team sent me a thing at the hospital, asking that I don’t broadcast the story on social media. I guess they were scared they wouldn’t be able to get a hold of me later, but like… A girl with scratches on her face wouldn't be hard to find? Not that the public knows about my scars, but the PR team certainly did…”

An uncomfortable silence settled across the table as Julie sank into a rare upset mood. After a couple of minutes, Kun spoke.

“Julie, why don’t you go count the tip jars for today?”

Julie sighed. “Yeah,” she said softly. “Yeah, okay.”

And the whole room wordlessly watched Julie get up, pick up the jars, and shut the door to the backroom.

“…I didn't mean to upset her,” Ten said softly.

“I know, Tennie,” Johnny replied. “But Julie genuinely has a crush on Jungkook. And even if she’ll never admit it, she _is_ disappointed that nothing came out of it.”

“I mean, I would be too, if I bled actual blood, got bruises everywhere, _and_ gained scars without so much as a thank you… I would have started crying.”

“She’s a little fighter,” Taeyong said. “I'm proud of her.”

Mark smirked a little. “And besides,” he said, deciding to turn the tables on Ten for once. “It makes sense that Julie doesn’t have a boyfriend. _You_ on the other hand…”

And for the first time tonight, Ten actually looked scared. “Mark, please—”

“Ha!” Johnny laughed. “So true… Ten can’t even talk to him—”

“ _Johnnyyyyy_ ,” Ten whined.

“Wait,” Kun said, and Ten tensed. “Ten has a _crush_?”

“Oh yeah,” Taeyong replied. “And the best part is, Ten sees him everyday, but—”

“ _Taeyong, let me live_ —”

“It’s why he started the whole tip thing in the first place,” Jungwoo said. “He was hoping to make his crush jealou—”

“ _Jungwooooo_ …”

Kun huffed a laugh. “Oh wow, that poor soul…”

Ten was silent for a beat. Two. But just when Ten thought he was safe…

“Ten- _hyung_ ,” Winwin spoke for the first time tonight. “Isn’t your crush Ku—?”

Mark had never seen Ten move faster in his life. One minute, Winwin was peacefully eating next to Kun. The next, Ten had flung himself across Kun’s lap into order to reach Winwin’s face to get him to shut up. Kun’s startled yelp attracted the attention of the night shift café workers, and Yuta came rushing over to save his own not-so-secret crush. There was a lot of yelling and clattering silverware, but eventually, Yuta managed to pry Ten’s hands off of Winwin as Johnny physically picked up Ten and pulled him off of Kun.

Taeyong sighed heavily in disappointment. “Well then. Who wants dessert?”

About fifteen minutes later, when even the night shift workers took a break in order to eat dessert, there was finally a (well, kind of) peaceful silence. Kind of, because Jaemin and Jisung were pretending to gag at the sight of Johnny feeding Taeyong bites of the pie. Yuta was pouting because Winwin wouldn’t let Yuta feed him too, and Ten was pointedly _not_ looking at Kun. Not that Kun really noticed. He was too busy rolling his eyes at Jaemin and Jisung whispering and staring at the last slice of pie.

“Um…is anyone going to eat that?” Jisung asked.

“Don’t even think about it,” Taeyong scolded. “That’s for your _noona_ Julie.”

Jaemin pouted. “But _hyung_ , I haven’t seen her in a while!”

Mark blinked. “You’re right. How long has she been back there? She doesn’t usually take this long to count the—”

The backroom door finally opened, and Julie slowly, almost half-consciously, walked out. She had a stunned look on her face, and Mark immediately grew concerned. It was, after all, hard to completely throw her for a loop like this.

“Julie?” Johnny asked in his patented “big brother” voice. “What happened?” (It was probably because she was a girl, but Johnny had always been particularly protective of Julie.)

The room waited for a reply as Julie shook her head.

“I—” she sucked in a deep breath. “Kun? Could you come count the money?”

Kun frowned. “Why? What’s wrong with—?”

“Just—” Julie sighed. “Please?”

“Julie, you’re the only neutral-party signed under the contract—”

“Then I’ll count them! I just…I need a witness or something. Just to guarantee that I am, in fact, _not_ counting incorrectly. Just, check my work, okay? Or I’ll never hear the end of it from Ten—”

“Hey!” Ten’s ears started turning red.

Kun stood up. “Alright. But only for the sake of fairness in this game.”

Everyone watched the two of them disappear into the backroom, and a confused silence settled over the table. Ever since that first incident with Johnny physically tossing people outside, no one had ever dared to fight over the Tip Game again. And so, in an attempt to alleviate tension, Taeyong sent the night shift workers back to work, Johnny told Jungwoo to stop texting his boyfriends and help clean up the table, and Ten… Well, he somehow wound up in a serious conversation with Winwin about crushes, and so Mark decided to scroll idly through Twitter and guard Julie’s slice of pie instead.

Most of Mark’s Twitter feed was the usual sort of stuff. Comics based on memes. Clips of idols doing things. ARMYs and EXO-Ls arguing again. And HELL YES, his favorite AU updated! He’d definitely have to read that later—

The door to the backroom slammed open again.

“Careful!” Johnny scolded. “You’ll break the—” Johnny stopped at the look on Julie’s face. In fact, the whole room did. After all, Julie looked like she was going to _cry_ , and it didn’t help that behind her, Kun came out looking about as shocked as Julie had a few minutes ago.

“Julie?” Mark asked softly. “What’s wro—?”

“ _MARKIE!_ ” Julie shrieked and rushed to hug him, and if Mark hadn’t been used to Ten and Haechan attacking him like that, Mark probably would have fallen over.

“Julie—!” Mark choked out from her tight grip. “What—?”

“Markie,” Julie repeated, releasing him from her hug but keeping her hands on his shoulders. “ _Markie_. You _won_.”

The room was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. But as the saying goes, there is always a calm before a storm.

“What?” said Jungwoo.

“What?!” echoed Winwin.

“WHAT?!” shrieked Ten.

Kun winced. “Ten—”

“Oh, MARK!” Ten rushed over to hug Mark, and he grabbed Julie to himself as well. “I’m so proud! My little _dongsaengie_ is growing up!”

Not one to miss out on group hugs, Jungwoo ran over, and then Taeyong and Johnny, and Kun rolled his eyes and dragged Winwin, and Mark suddenly found himself falling to the floor in the middle of a laughing group hug.

Mark himself was still trying to process what just happened.

“But…but my tip jar was so _empty_ ,” he said when everyone finally separated. “So how did I—?”

“Someone must _really_ like you,” Kun replied. “There weren’t a lot of bills, sure. But that doesn’t mean that there weren’t bills that were worth a lot.”

Ten’s smirk turned mischievous. “Ooh, does someone have a sugar dad—”

“Ten!” Johnny scolded.

“... _secret admirer?_ ”

Julie scowled. “Why did your mind go immediately to that? We’re not in a fanfiction, Ten.”

But Ten’s comment sparked a memory in his head. Just the day before, he and Julie had been talking about the tip game, and at some point in the conversation, Lucas had taken his usual seat in front of Mark.

_Was it possible…?_

“Ten-hyung?” Mark asked nervously. “...does Lucas speak English?”

Ten tilted his head like a confused puppy. “He understands more than he speaks. Why?”

Mark could feel the blood leaving his face. “Because I think he’s the reason I won.”

* * *

Usually, Mark liked Saturday shifts. Saturdays were puppy days, so there was always an extra surge of customers, which meant extra tips. But today, he was panicking a little, and not even the promise of fluffy little puppies could get him to calm down. He was late to work today because he kept trying to fix his hair, and then he couldn’t decide what to wear. Which was stupid, because he’d be behind a counter and wearing an apron over the whole thing anyway…

“Hello? Earth to Markie?” Julie called in English. (She only worked on weekends, since she had a job with their university’s theatre on weekdays.)

Mark shook his head. “Sorry, what?”

Julie laughed softly. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“It’s just…I feel like I’m supposed to thank him or something. But like… I don’t know _how_. Like, I’ve never even had a proper conversation with him…”

“Well,” Julie said. “It’s gonna sound cliché, but…just be yourself? Also, smile. You have an adorable smile, Mark Lee. Take advantage of that.”

“Ooh, are you talking about crushes?” Ten asked, sliding in out of nowhere.

Julie rolled her eyes. “Ten—”

“No, Julie,” Ten said, in a rare serious tone. “I wanted to apologize for the other day. I’m the last person on Earth that should be making fun of people with crushes. I just…”

“Tennie,” Julie said softly. “It’s okay. Really, all of us at Angel Café are awful with feelings. Jungwoo and his boyfriends used to be complicated and dramatic as shit. Winwin has been playing hard to get with Yuta for about two months now, and don’t even get me _started_ on the six-year epic saga of Johnny and Taeyong…”

“...you know,” Mark said. “Suddenly, I feel a lot better about _my_ crush.”

“Mark, you have a crush?” a deep voice asked.

Mark inwardly panicked and glanced at Julie and Ten.

Julie sucked in a deep breath. “You’re on your own with this one, kiddo.” And with that, she just walked away. Ten was less polite about it, cackling loudly as he followed Julie into the backroom.

 _So much for helpful sunbaenims_ …

“Can I help you?” Mark managed, feeling his customer service persona slip into place. Unfortunately for him, Lucas wasn’t fooled.

“ _Ma-ark~_ ,” Lucas sang. “You have a crush?”

“Well…I-I mean, I—” Mark sighed, feeling his face flush. “Yeah. Yeah, I do…”

Lucas’s wide grin shrunk a little bit. “That’s…That’s great! Who’s the lucky girl?”

“Oh—” Mark choked a little. “Um…it’s a guy. Actually. Like—”

Lucas looked _floored_. “Wait, you like _guys?_ ” And wow, Mark did _not_ know that Lucas’s voice could go that high. Thank _God_ that most of the customers were across the room loudly playing with the puppies, because that was also kind of loud.

“I mean, yeah…” Mark said. “I’m bi.”

And Mark began to feel a little uncomfortable, because Lucas was staring at him like he had never seen him before. And honestly, that might as well have been the case. If it wasn’t for the fact that Jungwoo was always “trying to be helpful” by loudly talking to Lucas about Mark, Mark would have been surprised that Lucas even knew who he was. (Honestly, the amount of embarrassing _sunbaes_ in Mark’s life…)

“Okay then,” Lucas said, suddenly sounding less than composed. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

Now, if this were a movie, Mark would have been smooth about it. He would have teased Lucas a little, waxing poetry about his crush to Lucas before cheekily revealing that his crush was indeed actually Lucas. But this wasn’t a movie, and Mark was awkward as all hell.

So instead, Mark blurted. “You! Um…it’s actually you…”

Lucas blinked. Once. Twice. And after the longest five seconds of Mark’s life, Lucas breathed (what Mark would later realize was) a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank God,” Lucas said. “Because I like you too, Mark Lee.”

* * *

“This isn’t fair,” Ten would whine about a week later. He and Jungwoo had been in the back changing out of their uniforms, and Ten was just itching to get out of there. The sooner he left, the sooner he could go home and sulk into his pillow in peace.

“This just isn’t _fair_ ,” Ten said again as they left the backroom. “Mark gets his cuteass happy ending, and here I am with my single ass—”

“Ten, stop swearing, please,” Johnny called from down the hall.

Ten pouted. “It’s still not—”

“Say it again,” Kun warned from elsewhere down the hallway, “and it’ll be the eighth time you’ve said that in the last two hours.” And Ten immediately shut up and sighed, moodily plodding towards the exit.

“You know,” Jungwoo said after a while, “other than the ‘it’s not fair’ comments, you’ve been really quiet today. Are you okay?”

Any other day, Ten would have laughed it off. But today? Today, he was just tired.

Ten sighed, stopping in the middle of the hallway. “I’m starting to think I’ve been going about this the wrong way.”

“You mean—” Jungwoo glanced into the kitchen, where Kun was teaching three new trainees around the café. And Ten felt his heart clench all over again, letting the soft Mandarin wash over him, even if he only understood about half of it.

Ten sighed and turned to keep walking, shaking his head to clear it.

“Yeah,” said Ten. “It’s just that… Kun is so _different_ from all the other crushes that I’ve ever had. He’s so… _patient_. And _sweet_ and _considerate_ and I’m just chaotic—”

“Hey,” Jungwoo said. “To be fair, people think the same of those two.”

Jungwoo pointed out the café window, and Ten looked up in time to see Mark and Lucas standing outside. Lucas leaned down to give Mark a forehead kiss, and Mark pouted, pulling Lucas down into a real goodbye kiss. When they finally pulled away, Lucas looked a little embarrassed, and Mark was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Loud and chaotic versus organized workaholic,” Jungwoo said. “And they worked out just fine.” Jungwoo patted Ten on the shoulder. “Cheer up, _hyung_. Have some hope for the future.”

“...yeah,” Ten said, as a happy Mark walked in to start his shift. “Hope for the future…”

**Author's Note:**

> So, what began as a cute little Lumark idea eventually expanded to include other pairings too. If you're interested, I could write about the other couples too...


End file.
